Seal for talking-machine records.



No. 70!,820. Patented June 3, I902.

L. P. VALIOUET.

SEAL FOR TALKING MACHINE RECORDS.

(Application filed. Mar. 27, 1902.)

(No Model.)

ATTOR N EY WIT'N ESSES UNITED STATES LOUIS P. VALIQUET,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, NfY,

S.EAL FOR TALKING-MACHINE RECORDS.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,820, dated June 3, 1902.

Application filed March 2'7, 1902. Serial No. 100,207. (No model.)

T0 aZZ-whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Lotus P. VALIQUET, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvementsin Seals for Talking-Machine Records, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sound-reproducing apparatus in general',and more specifically consists of an improved sound-record tablet and reproducing apparatus combined therewith whereby the first use of a record-tablet for reproducing purposes will leave indestructible and unremovable evidenceof the fact that said record-tablet has been so used and will thereby render it impossible for unprincipled dealers to sell second-hand sound-records on the representation that they have never been used.

Heretofore it has been proposed to provide evidence of the fact that any particular record-tablet is fresh from the maker and has not been used by attaching to the tablet a seal,

some member of the reproducing apparatus projects, and such film is consequently fractured upon the first use of the record for re-' production. This film of the record material cannot be replaced and the seal so produced cannot be counterfeited.

I have illustrated a form of record-tablet and reproducing-machine therefor embodying the preferred form of myinvention in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a section of a sound-record tablet constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a reproducing apparatus, showing such sound-record tablet in operative relation therewith, the tablet being partly in section in the full-line position.

Throughout the drawings like reference-figures indicate like parts.

The sound-record tablet 1, which is prefer- Fig. 2.

ably of the fiat disk-shaped form, has the sound-record grooves 2 sunk in one face and the central recess 3 for centering the tablet upon the revolving table 4 of the reproducing or talking machine 5 shown in Fig. 2. Instead of having such recess 3 extend through the tablet 1,so as to form a perforation therein, as is usually the case, I leave a thin film or web 6 of .the material of which the tablet is formed extending across the recess 3, as shown in Fig. 1. Preferably this web is in line with the upper surface of the'record-tablet and is the center of table 4, which engages the recess 3 and pierces and fractures the film or 1 web 6 when the record-tablet is forced down to a bearing on the rotatable table 4:, asmust be done before a reproduction of the record 1 can take place.

the reproducing-machine, the pin 7 perforates the film or web 6 as the record-tablet is being forced down to a bearing on the rotatable table, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. the timethe tablet has reached a bearing on the table the fragments of the film are usually broken completely off, leaving the usual central perforation through the tablet, as shown in full lines in the cross-sectional portion of If small portions of the film adhere to the edges of the opening, however, they do notinterfere with the operation and will be completely broken off in successive reproductions. It is evident, of course, that the film 6 being so fractured before any reproduction is possible cannot be so replaced as to avoid detection, and the seal is therefore impossible to counterfeit when my invention is used in its entirety. The advantages of my invention comprise this impossibility of counterfeiting,the improbabilityof the removal of the seal from natural causes other than the normal use of the record, and the cheapness of its application to the record-tablet.

It is evident, of course, that my invention might be applied to other forms of sound-record tablet than the one shown, that the form of the reproducing-machine might be correspondingly altered, and that the location of the film or web 6 might be varied so long as there was a member of the reproducing-machine adapted to perforate the web on the first reproduction of the record.

Having, therefore, described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. A sound-record tablet having a central recess for centering the record on the reproducing apparatus, with a thin film of the material of which the tablet is formed extending across said recess.

2. A sound-record tablet having a central recess in its under surface for centering the record on the reproducing apparatus, with a thin film of the material of which the tablet is formed extending across said recess in line with the upper surface of the tablet.

3. A sound-record tablet having a central recess for centering the record on the reproducing apparatus, with a thin film of the material of which the tablet is formed extendin g across said recess, combined with a reproducing-machine having a rotating table and an upwardly-projecting pointed center pin adapted to enter said recess and pierce said film.

4. A sound-record tablet having a recess formed in it across which recess extends a thin film of the material of which the tablet is formed, combined with a reproducing-machine having a rigid projecting member adapted to enter said recess and pierce said film prior to the operation of reproduction.

Signed at New York city, New York, this 26th day of March, 1902.

LOUIS P. VALIQUET.

Witnesses:

W. H. PUMPHREY, L. E. PEARSON. 

